Four US soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb north-west of Baghdad today and at least two dozen Iraqis died in violence across the country, as politicians put the final touches on a national unity government they hope will restore security to Iraq.

Sectarian violence has forced about 100,000 families across Iraq to flee their homes, a top Iraqi official said. At least 17 people have been killed in fighting.

Gunmen wearing commando uniforms of the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry stormed an Iraqi security company that relied heavily on Sunni ex-military men from the Saddam Hussein regime and abducted 50 hostages.

Iraq’s president failed in a bid to order parliament into session by next Sunday, further delaying formation of a government and raising questions about whether the political process can withstand the unrelenting violence or disintegrate into civil war.

Iraq’s president today said he would call the country’s new parliament into session for the first time on Sunday, starting the clock on a 60-day period during which the legislature must elect a new head of state and sign off on a prime minister and Cabinet.

Shiite lawmakers today chose Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to head the new government, selecting the incumbent by a one-vote margin over Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, Shiite officials said.

A brother of one of Iraq’s two vice presidents was shot and killed today on his way to work in Baghdad, officials said.

Gunmen killed three policemen and a government worker walking to work in Baghdad, officials said today, one day after four suicide car bombings killed 22 people.

Mariam Fam, Baghdad